The Dark
by PeggsterLover
Summary: Spencer Reid hated the dark. And lying in the middle of the woods, alone, reassured him of his fear.


**SUMMARY – Spencer Reid hated the dark. And lying in the middle of the woods alone reassured him of his fear.**

The Dark

Spencer Reid hated the dark.

It was a well known fact among most of the BAU team.

He had always disliked the dark.

Everyone had fears. Some people were scared of snakes. Some were frightened of storms. Others were scared of spiders.

Reid was afraid of the dark.

His team accepted it. He knew they would never intentionally place him in a situation where he did not feel safe. Meaning, leaving him alone in the dark.

So when they set him and Morgan undercover, how could they have known that he would end up in that very position?

The team had been investigating a series of murders involving two male victims at a time.

At first there had been no connection between the victims. That was until they figured out that all were connected to one girl. Within the pairs of victims, one had been an ex-boyfriend of this girl while the other was the first's best friend or brother.

The UnSub had been a man with a severe obsession with this girl. He wanted to get rid of all 'competition', hoping he could be in a relationship with her by doing so.

They knew who he was and just had to draw him out.

So that's how Spencer Reid had ended up alone in the dark.

Reid and Morgan had gone undercover – Reid as the girl's latest ex-boyfriend and Morgan as his best friend.

They had made sure the UnSub found out about the 'break-up'. They made it as public as possible.

It had worked, however when they were waiting for the UnSub to take the bait, it had somehow gone terribly wrong and both FBI agents had ended up unconscious in the back of the UnSub's car.

It had become a race against time to save the pair.

The UnSub had led the two men through the woods in the rain at gunpoint. The rest of the team were following, but they weren't all that close behind.

Reid and Morgan had to pray that they would be found in time.

Problems arose, however, when the UnSub began to hurt Reid – kick him and hit him with his gun. Morgan had leapt out to help his young friend.

This was what had got him shot.

Morgan had fallen to the floor as the bullet hit his shoulder. But instead of killing him there and then, the UnSub had left him to bleed out. He pushed a teary Reid deeper into he woods.

The UnSub had stopped once again, to give the young man another beating. However this time, he also had a knife. He sliced at Reid's arm, leaving a bleeding gash.

Reid had barely any hope of survival. He had lay on the ground with a slice to his upper arm, a severe cut on his forehead and several other injuries. And a very angry UnSub standing above him with a gun and a knife.

Yet, with his last morsel of strength, he had kicked out at the UnSub, causing him to fall to the floor. At the same time, Reid had got up and ran.

It was dark and there were a lot of trees, so the UnSub would have a tough time finding him. But so would his friends.

So here he was. Alone. Scared. In pain. Cold. Wet. But he kept running. Stumbling. He could barely see where he was going, but he had to keep moving.

His wet hair was falling into his eyes. He could feel blood, mixed with rain, running down his arm and also trickling down his face from the cut that had knocked him out.

Tears fell down his face as he hoped that Morgan was alive. He looked behind him and could see no sign of the UnSub. He also however, could not see where he was running. His foot caught a tree root, sending him tumbling to the forest floor.

He rolled onto his back and just lay there, lacking the strength to get back up again.

Suddenly, he heard a gunshot. It came from the direction from which he had just run.

_Morgan... _he thought. Had the UnSub given up on chasing him and gone back to finish what he had started? Reid began to sob.

All was silent in the woods except for the rain hitting the leaves on the ground and the sound of one lonely FBI agent crying for his friend.

He could feel himself beginning to lose consciousness as the blood continued to flow from his arm.

This was it. It was the end for him. He was only 27. Great. Live a life full of statistics and now die just to become part of one. How many people die before the age of 30? He should know this. His brain wasn't functioning properly. He couldn't think straight. He felt his eyelids drooping. Tears stung his eyes.

He thought he heard someone shouting his name. He was sure his mind was playing tricks on him. He ignored it and tried to fight the urge to close his eyes.

There it was again. Was he imagining it? Or was there really someone there?

"Reid!" it sounded like Hotch.

"Reid! Where are you?" was that Prentiss?

"Spence? Spence?" that was definitely JJ. He remembered telling Gideon on his 24th birthday,

"_She's the only person in the world who calls me Spence"_

He used what little energy that remained in his weak body to lift his head up. He saw torches. He tried to shout.

"H…h…here…JJ…Em…Emily!" his throat stung, but his heart leapt when a torch turned and pointed directly at him.

"Guys! Over here!" it was JJ. She was running. "Spence!"

After what seemed like an eternity, she reached him, collapsed to her knees and placed his head in her lap. She took off her scarf and tied it around the wound on his rm.

More torches raced towards him. Hotch, Prentiss and Rossi arrived. Suddenly, Reid remembered.

"M…Morgan? Is he…"

"He's fine, Reid." Hotch said, his voice kind. "He's gonna be fine."

Their young friend gave a weak smile before succumbing to the darkness.

They were both safe.

But… Spencer Reid still hated the dark.


End file.
